The 33-year-old Kiwi heavyweight was scheduled to take on IBF world champion Daniel Dubois on the card, but with Dubois withdrawing due to an unspecified illness a late replacement was found for Parker to take on.
That replacement is Martin Bakole - another 198cm power puncher - who is ranked inside the top five with all four major governing bodies of the sport - including being ranked above Parker with the IBF.
The bout will now be for the WBO interim world heavyweight title, which Parker won in his last fight against Zhilei Zhang.
Bakole wasn’t even in Saudi Arabia when he got the call to replace Dubois, travelling to Riyadh from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, via Ethiopia. Bakole was expected to arrive in Saudi Arabia at 2am on the morning of the fight.
However, he had been in camp with his sights set on securing a bout against Nigerian Efe Ajagba later this year which was expected to double as a title eliminator to find the next challenger for the IBF belt.
The bout between Parker and Bakole now figures to double as that title eliminator given Parker was due to fight for the IBF belt on the card. However, with unified champion Oleksandr Usyk voicing his desire to fight for the IBF title and become undisputed champion again, it is uncertain exactly what will play out in the title picture over the coming months.
“I wanted to fight for the championship of the world, of course I did. But if Dubois is sick, may he get better soon. There’s no point fighting sick. I’ve done that once before [against Joe Joyce] and it wasn’t good. Rest, recover, come back. In the meantime, I’m fighting Martin Bakole,” Parker told the Herald’s Liam Napier in Riyadh.
“I feel good. We’ve gone from one big puncher to the next big puncher. Even though we’re not fighting for the world title I get to defend my WBO interim belt for the first time. I’m happy to be here. I’m happy to still be involved in this great event. I’m looking forward to fighting Martin Bakole when he arrives and putting on a good show.”
How to watch in New Zealand
The card is being streamed on DAZN for $46.99 from 4.30am on Sunday morning.
The Herald will be providing live updates from 10am, with Joseph Parker vs Martin Bakole expected to get under way around 10.30am.
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.
